Former NFL Running Back Lawrence Phillips Found Dead In Prison

Lawrence Phillips, the former NFL player facing murder charges was found dead early Wednesday in his cell at the Kern Valley State Prison, he was 40 years old.

According to the press release his death is being investigated as a suspected suicide. Phillips was found unresponsive at 12:05 a.m. on Wednesday when the staff at Kern Valley State Prison was conducting security checks. He was transported to an outside hospital where he was pronounced dead at 1:27 a.m.

Lawrence Phillips was serving 31 years for two separate incidents: choking his girlfriend in 2005 and attacking three teens with his car after a pickup football game. He was also facing murder charges and a possible death penalty for killing his cellmate Damion Soward.

Phillips was the running back on the University of Nebraska’s national championship teams in 1994 and 1995. He was a first-round pick, sixth overall, in the 1996 NFL draft and played three seasons with the St. Louis Rams, Miami Dolphins and San Francisco 49ers.